I did some horse trading a while back and came up with a Remington 870, smooth bore, beed site gun with the factory mag extension and newer style composite stocks. My plan was to keep it in my jeep all the time but I haven’t done it yet as I also thought about selling it to get a second pistol for the glove box.
The bad part about this gun with the smooth bore is the spread with buck shot at distance. If a guy ever had to grab a long gun out of the truck it would be in an extreme instance I’m thinking as a pistol is my first line of defense. My main point and question to everyone is, would it be better to get a rifle site, rifled barrel for this gun and just carry the gun with slugs in it?
The only time it would ever get used besides training with it would be in some extreme situation. Do you think this would be a smart choice? Or just leave the barrel it has on it and just carry it with slugs?
If you are pulling it from a vehicle then a very real possibility exists that you might need to shoot through a vehicle.
I would maintain both slugs and 00 in the gun, but would opt for one of the more advanced, higher performance slugs such as those offered by Brenneke in their LE line.
I would choose to leave the barrel as is, as the slugs will be accurate enough to do their job within 100 meters.
My sight preference in shotguns is ghost rings, followed by rifle sights, with beads bringing up the rear. Beads will offer the least amount of precision, and least amount of visibility for alignment in poor light.
Maximize the range and performance of your buckshot by using the Federal LE 132 OOB, or the Hornady TAP, with the flight control wad.
I’m a fan of the Federal tru-ball slugs. They have great accuracy out to 100yds. I’ll defer to others on comparisons to the Brenneke.
My truck gun is an older 870 I salvaged. I like it but would prefer a rifle for this role but I am not comfortable leaving an expensive AR in my truck for the taking. I load the 870 with Breneke slugs.
In Virginia it’s legal but depending on what part of the state you are in they might perform a felony takedown on you after seeing a gun during a traffic stop, even if you alert them it’s there
My state (Maine) is quite gun friendly despite having a disproportionate number of Fudds. We can own supressors, SBRs, SBS’, AOWs, DDs & machine guns. We may not be able to carry a loaded rifle or shotgun in the vehicle but we also don’t have grizzly bears roaming the streets of our towns…though, we DO have plenty of tourists from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. :rolleyes:
A rifle such as the AR could be kept almost ready by keeping the loaded magazine up front with me while the unloaded rifle sits in the trunk. When needed, load the full mag, charge and go. Not ideal but under the circumstances you do what you need to.
There are no shotguns I can think of that I would attempt this with. The Saiga is a close possibility but since shotshells are mostly plastic, they’d deform against the mag lips after a while. A double barrel would be another possibility but you still only have two shots.
